FROM: HOLLEY CARNRIGHT
DATE: DECEMBER 10, 2015
RE: PRESS RELEASE – TONYA VALK
Tonya Valk, 45, from
Saugerties, pled guilty on Thursday, December 10, 2015 in Ulster County, County
Court to the class D felony of Grand Larceny in the third degree.
Valk working as a
bookkeeper in charge of financial matters including payroll – over a period
from January 1, 2008 to May 11, 2013 - embezzled $227,904.00. Valk’s criminal pattern included forging checks
and padding her salary with unauthorized increases. She was able to hide her
embezzlement for years by generating false banks statements which she submitted
to the company’s partners. During the
course of her crimes half of the company’s 32 employees were laid off.
Valk is scheduled to
be sentenced in Ulster County Court on February 18, 2016 by County Court Judge
Donald Williams. She is facing a maximum
term in state prison of 2 1/3 to 7 years. The case is being prosecuted by
Assistant District Attorney Jessica Mila Schutzman. Valk is represented by Jeremiah Flaherty,
Esq. of Kerhonkson.
